ANGELS THANK THEIR BULLPEN ANGELS 8, BALTIMORE 5.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

BALTIMORE - Angels manager Mike Scioscia began Thursday's game with a depleted bullpen because he had relievers that were either tired or in labor.

Actually, it was reliever Al Levine's wife Linda who was in labor early Thursday morning. So Levine left the team to be with her in Gilbert, Ariz., for the birth of their first child, missing the Angels' 8-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles before 37,961 at Camden Yards.

Relievers Troy Percival and Mark Petkovsek were simply tired from pitching so much lately and were not available, leaving Scioscia with limited options.

Starter Ken Hill left after five innings and 101 pitches, but Eric Weaver and Shigetoshi Hasegawa combined to throw four scoreless innings to key the victory.

Weaver, who was called up from Triple-A Edmonton on Sunday and was making his season debut, entered the game in the sixth inning and allowed only a walk in two innings. Hasegawa entered in the eighth and allowed only a two-out single in the ninth, earning his first save of the season.

``Weaver and Hasegawa are the story of (the) game,'' Scioscia said. ``Those guys came in and picked up four goose eggs. That's the reason we won the ballgame . . . eight runs didn't hurt either.''

Scott Spiezio had two hits and three RBI, and Mo Vaughn and Tim Salmon each homered to lead an offense that continues to put up big numbers. The Angels have homered in 10 consecutive games, but Thursday's game wasn't about the home runs, which accounted for only two of the eight runs.

``We're getting some big two-out hits and we're moving runners over,'' Scioscia said. ``That little ball gives us a consistent offense. You're not always going to get home runs. We're too balanced to just rely on the long ball. When it happens, great, but we're not going to sit back and wait to slug.''

The Angels knocked Orioles starter Mike Mussina (1-3) out of the game in the fifth inning. They needed Hill to go at least five considering the state of the bullpen, and he gave them five but no more.

Hill had a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Charles Johnson led off with a single to left. Hill gestured to catcher Bengie Molina, but plate umpire Eric Cooper seemed to think Hill was pointing at him and ran toward Hill.

Hill appeared a little rattled and gave up three runs in the inning, needing 40 pitches to get out of it. But he got a big out when he struck out Mark Lewis with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Still, the inning cost Hill a chance to stick around longer than five innings. His pitch count is strict because they want to avoid a flareup of his arthritic right elbow.

Hill (3-3) got the win because Weaver and Hasegawa pitched well. For Hasegawa, it was only the second time this season in 10 games he hasn't allowed a run. His ERA dropped from 11.12 to 9.45, but it is still worst on the staff.

ANGELS vs. SEATTLE

Time: 7:05 at Safeco Field

TV/Radio: Channel 9; KDIS-AM (710), KIK-FM (94.3), XPRS-AM (1090, Spanish).

Matchup: Kent Bottenfield (2-3, 4.38 ERA) will start for Anaheim against Seattle's Aaron Sele (2-1, 4.15). The Angels enter the three-game series one game behind the division-leading Mariners. Darin Erstad is 2 for 12 on the current trip, his average falling from .449 to .420.

- Joe Haakenson

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Box: Angels vs. Seattle (see text)